1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a method of driving the LCD device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an LCD device capable of enhancing the speed of transition speed of liquid crystal molecules from the transient splay state into the bend state, and a method of driving the LCD device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device includes an LCD panel that displays an image. The LCD device typically includes a thin-film transistor (TFT) substrate having a pixel electrode formed thereon, a color filter substrate having a common electrode formed thereon and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the TFT substrate and the color filter substrate. When an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal layer, the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer undergoes a transition that changes the optical transmittance of the liquid crystal layer to display an image.
Recently, an optically compensated birefringence (OCB) mode has been employed to increase the viewing angle and a response speed of the LCD device. The OCB mode drives the liquid crystal molecules in the LCD device after the liquid crystal molecules are bend-aligned. Particularly, after the liquid crystal molecules are homogenously aligned at an initial state, the liquid crystal molecules sequentially conform to a transient splay state, an asymmetric splay state, and a bend state at which time a predetermined voltage is applied to the liquid crystal molecules to drive the liquid crystal molecules in the OCB mode.
A predetermined time is needed in the OCB mode LCD device in order to obtain the bend state. However, when the predetermined time is long, display errors such as spots or flicker occur due to characteristics of the splay state of the liquid crystal molecules. Therefore, the OCB mode liquid crystal molecules are required to be quickly transitioned from a transient splay state into a bend state.